After Thanksgiving, I had a lot of leftover cranberry sauce. I usually only make a little to go with my cornbread dressing, but since the bag of frozen cranberries had been sitting in my freezer for a while I cooked the whole bag. As a result, I had a bowl full of cranberry sauce that I had no clue what to do with. I’m not someone who doesn’t like to waste food, so I try to find a use for leftovers. While I’m used to having leftover cranberries after Thanksgiving, but not leftover cranberry sauce. I searched the internet for ideas but came up empty. The recipes I came across called for whole cranberries and not cranberry sauce. After coming up empty I was worried that my cranberry sauce was going to go bad and I’d have to throw them out. So I decided to get creative and try to make a cranberry sauce coffee cake with the leftover cranberry sauce.

Christmas is upon us, and this year I won’t be able to do much. My new place will be available for move-in on Christmas eve, so I’ll be making the 9-hour drive to Denver and moving into my new place. There’s always next year. In the meantime, I can still make decorations for next year. My new place will be a lot smaller, so I won’t have room for a tree but I can still put up garland and lights. To make it easier on myself with moving I haven’t been doing a lot of shopping. Since I’m downsizing I’ve been focusing on decluttering and using things up. And one thing I have way too much off is felt. I use it a lot in my craft projects and it’s cheap, so I have piles of it.

Well, I’m one of many who buys bananas to let them ripen so that I can make vegan banana bread. I’m not a fan of bananas, but I try to eat them every once in a while since they are packed with potassium. I put them in smoothies, make peanut butter and bananas sandwiches, or have them as a snack. But when I have a bunch and they start spotting I make vegan banana bread. I like to have it as a snack with my tea or as a quick breakfast when I’m on the go. It’s also a great way to keep them from going to waste. I usually have the ingredients to make banana bread in my pantry, so I can easily take an hour or so to make banana bread.

November was busy I finished my assignment with the election board, then started working on preparing to move and start school. So I spent most of the month burnt out. I have a bad habit of taking on too much at once. And that’s what I did the first part of November. Towards the end, I lightened up my workload and took breaks. So here’s what I was up to in November and what I have planned for December.

With winter comes cold and shorter periods of daylight. And for some, the shift from fall to winter brings seasonal affective disorder (SAD). A type of depression that’s related to the changes in seasons and begins and ends at about the same time every year. Those who experience seasonal affective disorder tend to feel unmotivated, depressed, or changes in their appetite. I’m no stranger to seasonal affective disorder. When winter hits I find myself struggling to get out of bed most days. My energy level dips, and it’s harder to stay on top of things. But I’ve found a little self-care can help during the winter months.